The Bible has long been a matter of great dispute as far as its views on sex are concerned. The Song of Solomon in the Bible can be considered as an ode to sexual desires as it was composed even 1200 years before the birth of Lord Jesus.
Biblical analysts have argued about its inner meaning by saying that its all about Jesus’ love for the Church but the lines itself bring out the apparent erotica in the poem. The poem portrays two lovers burning with lust and describing their carnal desire for each other. The man lingers over the woman’s body before reaching the “the mount of myrrh.” and she in turn describes the pleasure she receives from her man.
Jennifer Wright Knust and Michael Coogan are the two authors who have set out to prove that biblical sex is not only about sex within marriage. For instance Ruth and Naomi vow to love each other till the end and Jephthah gives away to God his virgin daughter. Knust declares that Solomon’s song is all about sex out of wedlock in her book Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire along with Coogan’s book , God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says .
Conservative members of the Theological Seminary however argue that since the Bible was inspired ‘divinely’, hence it’s not permissive of unmarried sex.
Liberals say that the Christians utilize the Bible to oppose gay marriage. Even the story of Gomorrah and Sodom, according to Knust isn’t about promiscuity but the destruction that occurs due to sex with angels. God had been enraged at Sodom due to their attempts to rape the sheltered angels. Also women cover themselves in church to protect themselves from the lust of an angel. According to the Baptist theological seminary the Bible may not be a mirror of us and it must be read under supervision. Hence the Bible is not just about direct interpretation but also about trying to answer the questions that arise from it.
